© depositphotos/[email protected] The European Commission’s assessment indicates that the post of Prosecutor General in Ukraine remains subject to political influence.
The European Commission has issued an evaluation of Ukraine’s advancement on its path towards European Union integration. As per the document, the Ukrainian nation exhibits “a certain degree of readiness” within the judicial domain and has demonstrated “some headway” in this regard.
Consequently, during the period under review, specific advancements were realized, notably, due to:
- enactment and commencement of legislation concerning the establishment of the Specialized District Administrative Court of Kyiv and the Specialized Appeal Administrative Court of Kyiv;
- the ongoing procedure of selecting and appointing magistrates and members to the High Council of Justice;
- appraisal of the professional standing of current judges;
- the foundation of the Disciplinary Inspectors Service.
The EC also highlighted that Ukraine has endorsed a strategic plan for an e-justice framework and sustained the evolution of an electronic system for handling cases in criminal justice.
“Nevertheless, the judicial apparatus continues to be plagued by notable deficiencies in personnel and substantial workload. The probity, The EC further stated that the role of Prosecutor General in Ukraine is still subject to political manipulation.
The report also specified that the stipulations concerning the termination of criminal proceedings owing to the expiration of the pre-trial investigation timeframe following the notification of suspicion and the curtailment of the investigative duration remain operative. These constitute the aforementioned “Lozovoy amendments,” persistently advocated for repeal by the public, yet the Verkhovna Rada continually fails to enact such a decision. It was well-known to the EC that the “Lozovoy amendments” “resulted in the cessation of several prominent cases, while others face potential jeopardization.”
“The Commission’s recommendations from the prior year have seen partial execution and endure as valid,” the EC remarked.
Over the upcoming year, Ukraine, in particular, must:
- expedite the process of filling open positions within the judicial structure and the assessment of the competencies of serving judges with the involvement of the Public Integrity Council;
- assure the operational status of newly established specialized administrative tribunals;
- sustain the adjudication of ongoing disciplinary actions;
- sanction legislation to bolster the integrity declarations of magistrates and their validation, the designation of prosecutorial supervisors, the prosecutorial disciplinary system, and the authority of the prosecutor’s office administrative bodies;
- initiate segments of the electronic criminal case administration system;
- enact legislation to augment the enforcement of judicial rulings;
- activate a data acquisition system for the execution of judicial decisions and implement a schema for an electronic court system;
- without added delay, populate the vacancies within the Constitutional Court and refine the constitutional protocol in accordance with the counsel of the Venice Commission;
- at the statutory level, render the methodologies for selecting and dismissing the Prosecutor General more impartial, transparent, and predicated on merit;
- enhance the procedure for selecting Supreme Court justices and the verification of integrity declarations of Supreme Court judges and other superior courts with the provisional yet significant engagement of independent experts designated by international collaborators;
- revoke the clause pertaining to the automatic termination of criminal cases stemming from the lapse of the pre-trial inquiry period and reassess the existing time constraints;
- forthwith perpetuate the temporary involvement of autonomous experts appointed by the international community in the composition of the High Qualification Commission of Judges (HQCJ) and amplify the clarity and caliber of judicial selection processes;
- advance reforms targeting the bar association, legal instruction, and the National School of Judges;
- to nullify the mandates permitting the relocation and assignment of prosecutors to regional prosecutorial offices and the Prosecutor General’s Office absent competition and bestow upon the Prosecutor General the entitlement to access any pre-trial investigative content (barring NABU and SAPO cases), to abstain from the further application of these mandates pending their annulment.
It was previously indicated that the European Union is contemplating the prospect of accepting new nations without according them comprehensive voting prerogatives during the preliminary phase of membership. This strategy, according to its proponents, might mitigate opposition to expansion from a cohort of nations, Hungary included, and pave the way for Ukraine’s accession.
